China Resources Park Uptown, Guangzhou

China Resources Park Shangcheng is a high-rise residential and commercial development on West Guangshen Avenue in Xintang Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou, with landscape design by WTD Design. Xintang, historically known as Shabei Village, was formed eighteen hundred years ago when the East River carried down mountain sediment that settled in a tidal inner bay, mixing with seashells left by retreating tides and producing fertile land where fishing and farming communities took root. The site is surrounded by older neighborhoods and worn streetscapes, so the design treats the display-area forecourt as a genuinely open public square rather than a purely marketing device, offering local residents a place for shopping, leisure, and everyday gathering. The design draws on the memory of dunes, seashells, waves, conchs, and crescent bays, translating them into landscape elements. The entrance is placed at the street edge directly facing the central atrium to signal welcome and inclusiveness. Flowing, curving feature walls rise like rolling sand dunes, screening street noise with dense greenery and drawing pedestrians inward. At the heart of the atrium sits a miniature floating sea-island, edged by smooth, textured shell-like pavilions; small shell-shaped sculptures are scattered around it, and water spills from the pavilions into a pool below, producing the sound of lapping waves. The absolute focal point is a double-level children's playground created from the height difference between the commercial roof and the ground, themed in bright orange and yellow. A large perforated conch art installation links the two levels through a slide, dissolving the elevation change while heightening playful interaction. At the rear of the display area, a bay-shaped swimming pool lined with coconut palms evokes a tropical resort, and the commercial roof is activated with a rooftop bar and seating that overlook the whole square. The design uses the familiar imagery of dunes and shells to make the site a novel, open public space, mediating between the city road and the residential community and giving passersby a place to pause and relax.